The World Champ Who Caught a Young Bradley Wiggins' Attention

In 1993 Billy-Joe Shearsby rode the sporting race of his life and took out a World Championship team pursuit title along with Stuart O'Grady, Tim O'Shannessy and Brett Aitken.

By the age of 21/22, he had retired.

Looking back, the contemporary Billy-Joe has a hard time identifying with that athlete - in his words it's as though he's thinking about a 'different person'. The significance of his achievement back then is not lost on others... Sir Bradley Wiggins recently befriended Billy-Joe on social media, and reminisced about watching the race when Wiggins was just an impressionable child. But for Billy-Joe, the impact is only just now starting to take effect, decades later.

His personal story is not one of smooth sailing, but he's now come out the other side and into a pretty good place by the sounds of things.

It's involved anxiety, depression, problems with alcohol and drugs. Only very recently a GP suggested Billy-Joe be tested for ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), and results indicated he sits at the fairly 'severe' end of the spectrum. As a means of coming to terms with this, Billy-Joe blogged about it, and was soon taken aback by the volume and depth of responses, as others began opening up to him about their own personal demons. It spurred Billy-Joe onto creating My Shout, a podcast of interviews with people of all walks of life, but often those (successfully) dealing with emotional and/or physical challenges. In giving to others Billy-Joe has discovered he's got a lot back himself....

We definitely recommend watching the extended version as there is SO MUCH more in this fascinating conversation between both men.

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